And that’s when a beautiful, lanky sixteen-year-old boy – who happened to be Stewart’s cousin – turned around and told me, “The seventh grade English teacher is my aunt. And the dorky sixth grade social studies teacher is my dad.”
I wanted to sink through the floor and never come up.
But seven years later, that beautiful boy married me. So, I couldn’t have hurt his feelings that much. And his dad likes me.
My point is, I make terrible first impressions.
If it’s possible to walk into a room with my dress tucked into my pantyhose, I will do it. If there is a way for me to insult someone’s entire family before being introduced, I will find it. Maybe that’s why the first chapter meet-cutes in my books are so traumatic. I think I may have outdone myself with RHYTHM AND BLUEGRASS. Poor historian Bonnie Turkle is on her way to meet the mayor of Mud Creek to determine whether he will allow her access to the artifacts at McBride’s Music Hall- artifacts she needs for a work project. And I set her car on fire just outside of town. But I do allow a handsome stranger to happen upon her, mock her mercilessly and extinguish the fire.
By the unholy laws of the Harper meet-cute, the handsome stranger also happens to be Will McBride, the mayor of Mud Creek. Will’s family once owned McBride’s, where the country western performance circuit and the rhythm and blues circuit crossed paths during America’s musical renaissance. And he’s not fond of the memories sparked by sifting through the hall.
Bonnie finds clues to a legendary musical mystery in the hall, complicating Will’s plans to turn the music hall site into a factory that employ Mud Creek’s disadvantaged citizens. Bonnie must find a way to compromise with Will to save McBride’s and the town… and overcome the world’s worst first impression.
My characters’ lives would be easier if I stopped setting their stuff on fire. It doesn’t mean I’m going to do it. That’s just an observation.
RHYTHM AND BLUEGRASS will be available Oct. 7 in print, ebook, and audiobook at all major retailers. For more information, go to www.mollyharper.com or singleundeadfemale.blogspot.com.
Twitter: @mollyharperauth
Facebook: Molly Harper, Author
